Resources

This report brings together insights gathered through extensive desk-based research conducted as part of the Fair Game project 2024 across six diverse countries: Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, and Romania. The main goal was to explore the complex challenges that excluded and vulnerable youth face in these unique national contexts. The research involved a thorough examination of existing interventions aimed at addressing these challenges. By evaluating their effectiveness, the study aims to establish a foundation for developing targeted training programs and recommending...

هل تغيّرت، أو تخلخلت، الصورة النمطية للمرأة في الواقع الراهن في سورية؟ هذا هو السؤال المؤسس لهذه الدراسة التي تسعى فيها الباحثة لرصد تحولات المكانة الاجتماعية للمرأة من خلال متابعتها لمدى المشاركة النسوية في الحياة العامة، في سورية. تركز الباحثة على فترة الأزمة الحالية متسائلة «هل يمكن أن يشكل انخراط المرأة السورية في الأزمة، موالاةً أو معارضة، معبراً إلى إنجاز بقية حقوقها... أم يزيد من معاناتها؟

Lebanon may witness a remarkable rise in the number of women serving in Parliament come May 2018 due to initiatives from women’s groups, “civil society” activists, and the substantial number of female candidates – 113 at the start of the election period. However, as this briefing paper shows, Lebanese women continue to face numerous challenges in entering government. The new electoral law passed in June 2017 does not provide women with equal opportunity to be elected, and it is yet to be seen whether it will increase female representation in Parliament. Nevertheless, the historic number of...

Working Paper | February 2014
The Dilemma of Human Rights In Lebanese Electoral Laws by Elie Al-Hindy
This study concludes with a number of recommendations with respect to the issues that need to be introduced to the debate and that can strengthen advocacy efforts by the different stakeholders involved. Reflecting on all of the above, and in light of the current political realities in Lebanon, including present sectarian demographics and political structure, the study concludes that the standards imposed on the new electoral law is impossible to meet, as no law, which this study has reviewed...

This report presents the findings of the labour market study in Bar Elias and the Bekaa, focusing on the labour activities, initiatives, and aspirations of current B&Z beneficiaries and Syrian refugee youth and women heads of household respondents that could potentially be

Today, women in Lebanon are fighting for equal access to opportunities and rights without prejudice against their gender, their expectations and their careers.

Although Lebanon is sometimes considered as the only democratic country in the Arab region with a free political environment and electoral system, the situation of women has not been strengthened enough for them to have a role on an equal footing with men. Lebanese women form a majority of 53% and they are actively participating in all aspects of Lebanese society. They enjoy equal constitutional rights with men and have the right to vote, hold public office, elect and be elected in municipal councils. Yet, this diagnosis, elaborated by the Committee for the Follow-Up on Women’s Issues (CFUWI)...

This report examines both the historical development and current situation of Syrians working in Lebanon through the analysis of policies established and implemented by the Lebanese government. While the report is not an assessment of these policies, it nevertheless reflects on its impact on Syrians’ working conditions and livelihoods. In this vein, this report notably focuses on emerging dynamics of increased informality, exploitation, and dependence. It is part of a series of reports to be published in 2016, the 1st of which being "Formal Informality, Brokering Mechanisms, and Illegality...

This report examines the nature of interaction and engagement between Lebanese citizens’ collectives and the state on gender-specific matters, through the case study of

Over 250,000 migrant women are employed by private households in Lebanon to carry out household tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and caring for children and the elderly.

This report provides an analysis of the history and current situation of the conflict context, actors and dynamics in Beirut, Lebanon. The report seeks to shed light on the main actors, topics of contestation, conflict and mobilisation in its historical becoming as well as current expressions. The report includes a special focus on the social question, subsequent political and social mobilisation, gender issues, the securitisation of the city, as well as the interactions between the Lebanese host community and Syrian refugees and their unfolding within the last four years (since 2011).

This study was based on a comprehensive assessment of the vocational needs as well as the labor absorption capacity mainly with business owners in the area of intervention and individual workers and vocational trainings candidates following different assessment and data collection methodologies such as key informant interviews, focus groups, and individual assessments

LET THE KIDS DO IT A lot has been said and printed about the role that is expected to be performed by YOUTH in the governance process, and here I am thinking generally of University undergraduates.  However, I do not recall reading any serious and studied proposals on the subject. It is as though, some of our esteemed dinosaur leaders consider the idea so “farfetched “that, for them, it is not really worth considering. They ask: “Do you seriously think that “kids” can tell us what to do or not do? The answers would be: First, these “kids”, as you call them, can come up with some fresh ideas...

Working Paper | April 2015
Social Justice and the Arab Uprisings by Amaney A. Jamal and Michael Robbins
As the Arab Spring proceeded, massive changes swept across the region. Long-standing stability gave rise to ongoing chaos in some countries, most notably Syria and Libya, but also to a significant extent in Tunisia and Egypt. Meanwhile, Islamist parties won free and fair elections in Egypt and Tunisia and were allowed to come to power. These and other changes greatly altered the political landscape across the region. The importance of these changes cannot be overstated. Yet, amidst talk of a...

موجز سياسات | 2015-2016
​حوكمة الترابط و دور المؤسسات من إعداد رنا الحاج و نديم فرج الله
 

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is pleased to share with you the report:  “Responding to the Impact of the Syrian Crisis on Lebanon: Recovery Framework for Wadi Khaled and Akroum, Akkar”, March 2014. SDC facilitated a process to shed light on the impact of the Syria crisis at the national level but also on the local level. The formulation of a recovery framework for Wadi Khaled and Akroum is a process that can be replicated for other affected regions of Lebanon. The findings and recommendations are based on consultations (between October 2013 and January 2014) with...

Policy Memo | June 2014
Social Cohesion and Intergroup Relations: Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Nationals in the Bekaa and Akkar by Charles Harb and Reem Saab
The growing influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon has strained its socio-economic fabric, piling pressure on employment opportunities, housing, trade, and infrastructure capacities (basic services). Tensions between Syrian refugees and their Lebanese host communities have led to intercommunity clashes, and it thus becomes imperative to identify the indicators of social instability and ways to reduce them. A research project initiated by...

Research Report | May 2014
Relative Deprivation and Politics in the Arab Uprisings by Asya el-Meehy
This study seeks to assess the relative weights of economic and political grievances across the uprisings in Bahrain, Egypt, and Tunisia. Highlighting the unique shared role of middle class youth, it contends that these constituencies have suffered from relative deprivation, despite deliberate efforts by authoritarian regimes to shield them through new targeted social protection initiatives. Nonetheless, economic grievances were not always the primary driving dynamic of protests and the...

This study seeks to assess the relative weights of economic and political grievances across the uprisings in Bahrain, Egypt, and Tunisia. Highlighting the unique shared role of middle class youth, it contends that these constituencies have suffered from relative deprivation, despite deliberate efforts by authoritarian regimes to shield them through new targeted social protection initiatives. Nonetheless, economic grievances were not always the primary driving dynamic of protests and the importance of the middle classes has varied compared to the roles of the poor, labor, and pro-democracy...

تسعى هذه الدراسة الى ما يعبّر عنه عنوانها: إثبات وجود تراتب اجتماعي في لبنان يقوم على المواقع المتفاوتة لسكانه من الاقتصاد والموارد والدخل والثروة وعلاقات الإنتاج والملكية. بعبارة أخرى، نريد منها إعادة الاعتبار لمفهوم الطبقة في إنتاج المعارف عن المجتمع والسلطة في لبنان